U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, said Friday that Rep. Joe Barton should resign his position as ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee as a result of his controversial comments regarding the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.

"There is no other way to say it. Joe's comments were stupid and extremely insensitive to the hundreds of thousands of people who live along the Gulf Coast," Bonner said. "I hope Joe will do the right thing."

Barton, a Texas Republican, offered an apology to BP chief executive Tony Hayward during a congressional hearing Thursday, saying that the U.S. government had mistreated his company in the wake of the disaster. He said the White House's demand that BP create a $20 billion fund to pay victims of the spill was a "shakedown."

Barton's comments were condemned by both Democratic and Republican elected officials and drew an angry backlash from Gulf Coast lawmakers, including Bonner and U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who also called for Barton to step down from the committee.

Barton apologized for his remarks within hours of the hearing. Bonner, however, said the apology was "half-hearted, at best" and a transparent attempt "to save his position on one of the most influential committees in Congress."

Bonner said Barton called him early Friday to offer his personal apologies. He said he told Barton that the damage caused by his comments was beyond repair and that he should step aside.

Barton, 60, of Ennis, Texas, has served in the House since 1985, and is viewed as one of the GOP's leading experts on energy policy.

(Press-Register/Mary Hattler)U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile.

His comments have become a political lightning rod for the GOP, shifting criticism away from the Obama administration's handling of the disaster.

The Democratic National Committee on Friday launched a national TV ad featuring Barton's apology and demanding that Republicans "stop apologizing to BP."

Bonner said the GOP should protect free enterprise but "must be unequivocal in our resolve that when a company makes a mistake - on the order of magnitude that BP has made - that Republicans will be the first to hold it accountable."